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FALL BACK DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Locally owned since 1867
Volleyball players earn postseason honors
Voters to decide court remodel City and school seats, Crest bond issue also on Tuesday’s ballot By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
PAGE B1
A number of local races will be decided Tuesday, most notably a countywide vote on whether to approve a $9.95 million renovation to the Allen County Courthouse. On top of the courthouse vote, Iolans will have decisions to make regarding open seats on city council. In Ward 3, incumbent Kim Peterson is running against challengers
Georgia Masterson and Gene Myrick; in Ward 4, voters will decide between incumbent Joelle Shallah and challenger Darcus Kottwitz. Jon Wells is on the ballot alongside Paul Porter in Ward 1, although Porter announced he was no longer interested in serving, and supports Wells’s candidacy. MEANWHILE, the Humboldt USD 258 Board of EdSee ELECTION | Page A8
31st Judicial District Judge Daniel Creitz discusses plans for a renovation of the Allen County Courthouse that would add a new courtroom, office space and improved security. FILE PHOTO
Sushi truck rolls into town By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Sometimes, fate lends a hand. Leonardo Lee came to Kansas about four years ago, ready to make a living by serving hibachi and sushi cuisine. Lee was living in New York, working with his brother, who owned a restaurant in Manhattan. But he wasn’t particularly fond of the crowded environment. “It was too much,” he said. So he migrated to southeast Kansas at the recommendation of a friend, first in Chanute, and then in Iola, in 2019. Little did he know that within a year, restaurants across the nation were going to be shuttered within a few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Lee was able to keep going, because he ran his eatery, Saki Japanese Express, out of his food truck. “We didn’t have any trouble because we didn’t have a dining room,” Lee said. “We just opened like normal.” After working in Chanute, Lee set up shop for a few months in Iola in the fall of 2020, “to try it out.” He then operated briefly in
iolaregister.com
New flood maps could change rates on insurance By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Leonardo Lee, left, and Alfi Firgariko man the Saki Sushi and Hibachi Japanese Express truck in Iola. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN Emporia before realizing Iola would be an ideal location to work permanently. So he and crew spent several weeks cleaning up his old digs at 315 N. State St. before reopening Saki earlier this month. The response has been everything Lee had hoped for. “”My customers say they
like it,” he said. Saki offers a variety of hibachi entrees and assorted sushi rolls, from basics, to deep fried and specialty rolls. Lee even introduced the Iola roll, loaded with shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado, topped with crabmeat and a special sauce. Lee, who moved to New
York from his native Japan in 2004, spent the next 15 years working at his brother’s restaurant. He’s excited to become more established in Iola. “So far, so good,” he said. Saki is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and can be reached at (620) 418-9716.
Flood insurance rates could drop for some Allen County residents, with newly drawn maps removing 85 properties from the floodplain. Eight will be added. Local residents can attend an open house from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Community Building in Riverside Park to learn about the new maps and the flooding risks to homes, even if not in a floodplain. Terry Call, county zoning director, said the meeting is a good opportunity to learn about the new floodplain maps, ask questions and voice concerns. He mailed 237 letters to affected addresses with an invitation to the open house. Understanding the floodplain is important, Call said. Flood insurance See FLOOD | Page A7
‘It’s a great day for the Register’ Susan Lynn, editor and publisher of The Iola Register, and Bob Johnson, longtime reporter, were inducted into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Topeka on Friday. Contemplating the honor, Johnson said, “It’s a great day for the Register.” He worked for the Register for 56 years and one day until he retired in 2020. Lynn joins her father, Emerson Lynn, Jr., great-uncle Angelo Scott and great-grandfather Charles F. Scott (all former Register editors) in the Hall of Fame. She is shown at left with her husband, Brian Wolfe. Johnson is pictured with wife, Beverly, and son, Bob Johnson, Jr. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER Cathy Mih-Taylor, MD Dawne Lowden, MD Jennifer Byerley, APRN-C Ashton Holman, PA-C Laura Myers, APRN-CNM Dana Rhodes, APRN-CNM
Vol. 125, No. 279 Iola, KS $1.00
Women's Health introduces hospital-based certified nurse midwives, Laura Myers, APRN-CNM & Dana Rhodes, APRN-CNM.
629 S. Plummer Ave., Chanute, KS 620-431-0340